Simplicity of Nature in the Classroom

Working with young children is a rewarding and valuable career. Providing children with an environment that is rich in content and invigorating exploration is essential. Turning to nature for inspiration and resources has helped me to establish a natural classroom.

This stick mobile adds depth to the classroom and incorporates many talking points to engage children and inspire learning.

Buying resources can be an expensive endeavor. Using creativity and combining natural resources with tools that you already have helps to cut down on costs. Using sticks, string, beads, and solar system ornaments that I already had, I could add depth into the classroom by creating a mobile. The sticks move freely and are exceptionally lightweight, and I added beads and string for additional decor. Both children and adults love to comment on their interpretation of the mobile, and this mobile interpretation, which allows language development to flourish. Children are continuously taking in the world around them and listening to peers and adults in the classroom, hearing a variety of conversations about the mobile sparks their language skills. Developing their thoughts about the mobile is a stage of art appreciation; adding comments and questions about what they see and guiding the conversation with questions allows them to establish a sense of identity and confidence. There is no right or wrong answer with art.